Wondering why I-35W is closed again this weekend? One reason is the removal of the 40th St bike bridge. The bridge will be out for at least a year. The 38th street bridge is open again. It’s functional, but boring.

I spent the afternoon exploring Downtown St. Paul, looking for better routes through the area. The good news is that the Gateway Trail has been extended through Downtown to the riverfront trail along Shepard Rd.The two-way trail takes up one lane of Jackson Street. According to one traffic engineer, the trail won’t freeze up… […]

The source of Minnehaha Creek at Gray’s Bay has always been a mystery to me, so when Dave Olson, who regularly launches his canoe at the Gray’s Bay Dam, told me about a new bike bridge at the dam, I decided to check it out. By the end of the day, I had cleared… […]

Old Cedar Bridge Replacement Project – All but $1.3 million of the $4 million needed to remove and replace this structure has been secured. The final portion of funds needed to move forward will hopefully come from the Economic Stimulus package being developed by Congress. The good news for the Old Cedar Project, though, is that a separate appropriation from the Bloomington U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge Recreation Area was submitted for the Stimulus Bill and has higher priority because it’s on federal property and would use federal workers. If this funding comes through, demolition of the Old Cedar Bridge would take place later in 09 with a new bridge completed in 2010.

Cuyuna County State Recreation Area – This project to construct a mountain bike trail network and IMBA Ride Center continues to move along in the Crosby Ironton area of Northern Minnesota. Roughly 30 miles of trail has been GPS’d and drawn, including short Beginner trails that loop out and back from the Cuyuna Lakes paved trail that runs through the property. Intermediate and Expert trails have also been plotted, as well as a Skills Park area that uses boulders the size of Volkswagen Beetles. Bids for construction will go out soon with the goal of having the trail network rideable by the end of 2009.